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Jo Beth Thompson, a Dalton native, began her dance studies at the age of four.  A student of her mother, Berrien Long, for 13 years, she has also studied with Marcus Alford of Dancentre South, Anna and Barry Van Cura of Ballet Tennessee and in the summers at the Atlanta Player’s Performing Arts Camp, the International Ballet Competition workshop in Jackson, Mississippi, Charleston Ballet Theatre Summer Intensives, and the Tennessee Association of Dance Workshops.  She was a member of Dalton Ballet Theatre from 1994-2000.  Jo Beth graduated from the University of Alabama in 2004 with a B. S. degree in Human Environmental Sciences with a major in interior design.  While at the university she continued her dance studies with Cornelius Carter, the 2001 Carnegie professor of the year, and Rita Snyder in the University of Alabama Dance Department.  Jo Beth has performed almost every role in the Nutcracker including Clara, Snow Queen, Dewdrop, Marzipan, Arabian, Columbine, Flowers, Snow, Candy Cane, Chinese Tea duet, party girl, party boy, the maid, Mother Ginger’s children, a soldier and a mouse! She and her husband, Chad Thompson, live in Dalton.

Ben is originally from King George, VA where he began his dance training with Victoria Shiflet. He earned his BFA in Musical Theatre from Shenandoah Conservatory and University and has performed all over the world as an actor/singer/dancer. He has worked in numerous regional theatres, national tours, world cruises, Off-Broadway, and Lincoln Center. Favorite productions and roles include: My Fair Lady with Kelsey Grammar and Brian Dennehy, The Music Man with Shirley Jones and Patrick Cassidy, as Scarecrow in The Wizard Of Oz, Lumiere in Disney’s Beauty & The Beast, Rum Tum Tugger in Cats, Will Parker in Oklahoma!, Mortimer Brewster in Arsenic & Old Lace, Caleb in 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, Starkey/Indian in Peter Pan, Bobby in Cabaret, Brad in Hairspray, and Sandy Dean in Brigadoon; and the film version of The Producers. Ben is also a founding member and performer in Suspended Cirque, an aerial circus and theatre company in New York City..